Murray pulls out, Nadal eases through in Rome

AFP, ROME

Fri, May 17, 2013 - Page 19

World No. 2 Andy Murray admitted on Wednesday that he could miss the French Open after a long-term back injury forced him to quit the Rome Masters.

“I’d be very surprised if I was playing in Paris,” a subdued Murray said after retiring from a second-round start at the Foro Italico, handing a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7) win to Spain’s Marcel Granollers. The French Open is due to start on May 26.

Murray, who was celebrating his 26th birthday on Wednesday, said that pain in his lower left back, which has bothered him since late 2011, has been flaring up recently, bringing on the Rome pullout.

“I felt pain today, the same as in Madrid. I hit yesterday and played some points, but I was still sore today,” Murray added.

There were no such problems for Madrid Masters champion Rafael Nadal who began laying the groundwork for a dream seventh Rome title, hammering Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-3.

Nadal has won five titles since making his return after seven months out with a knee injury.

The Spaniard, who has now won his 32nd match of the season against two defeats, will next play Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, a winner over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-1.

“Tomorrow I play against an opponent who is very dangerous,” Nadal said.

“He’s having a great season and we had a tough match in Indian Wells this year. He’s aggressive with a big serve, big shots from the baseline. I have to be playing great if I want to have any chance,” he said.

Murray said the back problem is the same one which required him to take a pain-killing injection to play Roland Garros last year where he reached the quarter-finals.

“We will have to wait and see on Paris. I’ll try to make a decision after the next five days or so. I need some days off for it to hopefully settle down,” he added.

Murray, the US Open and Olympic champion, said he was loath to take another injection since the one last year still did not leave him feeling 100 percent.

The Briton has not quit a match since May, 2007 in Hamburg, Germany, when he suffered a wrist injury which took three months to heal.

The defeat marked the second straight year in Rome that Murray, a 2011 semi-finalist, has gone out early, following his third-round exit a year ago.

Murray, who has never clinched a clay-court title, has won just three matches on the surface this season, alongside as many defeats.

“[My back] has not been perfect for a long period, I want it to start feeling good again. Everyone goes into matches with niggles, but this is very frustrating,” Murray added.

“Some shots hurt more on clay because the movement is so exaggerated. There is not a lot of power on the ball so you have to generate power and pace yourself,” he said.

“I don’t want to go into details, but I’ve got a disc problem, it changes week to week,” the Scot said. “It’s been an issue for a while, but I want to make sure it goes away. I don’t want to be playing with it long-term, it’s not enjoyable at all.”

Murray was joined on the sidelines at the Foro Italico by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, with Polish underdog Jerzy Janowicz ripping off his shirt in celebration seconds after clinching a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) win over the eighth seeded Frenchman.

Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov got a free trip into the third round when Madrid finalist Stanislas Wawrinka quit before their meeting with a thigh injury, which also bothered him last week.

In women’s play, second seed Maria Sharapova, winner of the last two editions, started with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Spain’s Garbine Muguruza.

“This is a meaningful tournament for me,” Sharapova said. “This is one of the tournaments I’ve won a couple of times and I’ve also been playing here since I was really young.”

World No. 3 Victoria Azarenka was equally untroubled by Julia Goerges beating the German 6-2, 6-0.